Integrity- People of God

 Matthew 2:1-2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,  saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. NKJV

The thing that made these men wise is the very thing that makes men wise today; they were seeking Jesus, the King, so that they may worship Him.  Wise men are still following after Jesus though it may be costly, time consuming and often sacrificial. Those who are wise in the things of God are still looking to Jesus as their guiding light in a dark, perverse and obstinate world.

These wise men were from a distant country from the east was awaiting the birth of the Messiah, The King of the Jews. Some may ask where did they come from and how did they know to look for the King of the Jews to be born? God is the Master Engineer and He can orchestrate circumstances and situations even before time began to accomplish His task. Is it a coincidence that Keturah, Abraham’s second wife was sent with gifts eastward with her six sons to the east country?  Is it possible that Abraham would have told his children of the coming Messiah and that God would reconcile the world back to Himself through this King so that all humanity could partake in His Eternal Life?  Is it coincidence that Moses’ father in law was the priest of Midian? A descendant of Midian a son of Abraham and Keturah, and He offered praise to God for all He had done for Israel. But with God are there really any coincidences?

Genesis 25:1-6   Abraham again took a wife, and her name wasKeturah. 2 And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines whichAbraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.

Genesis 18:19 For I have known him,(Abraham) in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”

Keturah is called the most ignored significant person in the Torah; the first five books of the Bible. There has been a lot of speculation and comments about Keturah and the six sons she bore to Abraham and there is no need at this point to try to add to this speculation. We can only state what the Bible says about the matter and we understand God’sways are not our ways.  Only God can set up situations centuries in advance to insure His word is fulfilled. 

These wise men were looking for the Messiah and when they saw His star they had exceedingly great joy. They came and kneeled before Christ and they opened their treasures and presented Him with the things they valued as an expression of worship. Wise men are still kneelingdown before Christ to open their hearts and their treasures to Him as an act of worship.  When our hearts are open with exceedingly great joy to Jesus we too will open our treasures of great worth and present them toowithout reservation.  God wants us to surrender our hearts regardless to our wealth and then He will have our treasures, our commitment, our integrity and loyalty to our King. 

Matthew 2:9b-11… the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. NKJV

The Proverbs has a lot to say about wisdom, it says happy is the man that finds wisdom and the man who gets understanding, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  What does it mean to fear the Lord? The Bible says the fear of the Lord is to hate evil which is pride, arrogance, evil waysand a mouth that is perverse or speaks fraud. Also fear of the Lord is to give instructions of wisdom, training our children to flee evil and walk in humility so as to obtain honor.

We will spend countless hours and money to train our children in all types of skills, reasoning, logic and things that appear to be sensible in the world. But many often fail to instruct their children in Godly wisdom, how to walk in integrity, to hate pride and arrogance and not to speak viciously with deceit or fraud. We allow this fallen world system to shape their ideas, their minds, their sense of right and wrong.  Then when they bow their knee at the altar of selfishness, pride and rebellion we wonder what went amiss and what went wrong. All that the world is searching for is found in the wisdom of God, happiness, riches and honor and length of days. 

Proverb 3:13-16  Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand,  In her left hand riches and honor.

God’s wisdom is rich and it is worth searching out. God has made Jesus to be our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. We tend to accept easily the redemption of Christ but some people have a hard time accepting that they are righteous and sanctified and perhaps they lack understanding of the wisdom they have in Jesus. We are called to seek wisdom and to pursue it. As any hidden treasure or gem of value it takes much effort to pursue wisdom, just as it takes much effort to find rubies, silver or gold, if not more.  

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption

God is still concealing the richness of His wisdom in His word and He has called the prudent and humble to seek it. Wisdom has been given to us in the person of Jesus and He has told us to follow Him. 

Proverbs 25:2  It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. 

Wise people are still seeking Jesus!